Military Connections

The EPS Pipes and Drums and the Canadian Airborne

In 1969 the Commanding Officer of the newly formed Canadian Airborne Regiment invited the band to perform for the first official parade of the Regiment. It is a great honor that the Pipes & Drums of the Edmonton Police Service are authorized to wear the Canadian Airborne Regiment badge so many years after the disbandment of the Regiment.

The EPS Pipes and Drums and the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry

The band has a long history with the PPCLI. In 1964 the pipe band established an unprecedented relationship with the Canadian Armed Forces when members of the band were invited to perform at the Prince Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry Regiment’s “Beat the Retreat”. This was the first time in Canada, perhaps the Commonwealth, when a non-military band performed this centuries old ceremony. The honor was repeated in 1967 when the pipe band was invited to perform with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry’s brass band at Canada’s 1967 Centennial Military Tattoo.

It is a great honor that the Pipes & Drums of the Edmonton Police Service are authorized to wear the Loyal Edmonton Regiment badge.

On October 27, 2007 members of the EPS Pipes and Drums played at a ceremony on the old Griesbach Base in Edmonton. The ceremony was to honor two World War II veterans and name two streets after them. The EPS Pipes and Drums played with the LER Band and entertained dignitaries, veterans and military personnel. One of the streets was named after Private Alex Decoteau who was a former member of the Edmonton Police Service and was killed by a snipers bullet in Passchendale, Belgium, in 1916.